PROPCAFE Review : The Manhattan @ KLCC By UED

A new crest in the Kuala Lumpur Skyline – Rise Above all at The Manhattan at Residen 61 Raja Chulan.

The Manhattan is a commercial title Residential Property which offering 139 units at small piece of land (0.47 acre). It is not difficult to find the site if one is working around KLCC area. The Manhattan is located at Jalan Raja Chulan right beside Menara MPL or opposite Menara Affin. The nearest famous landmark would be KL Tower. It is about 8 to 10mins walk to Pavillion KL and Raja Chulan monorail. However to walk over KLCC it probably requires addition 5 to 8mins walking time. There is no direct access from the back of this project but need to go through Menara MPL site to the backlane of Changkat Bkt Bintang for dinning and pubs.

This location is a bit extreme from my point of view. During weekday, the frontage of this site is a very busy road as all office blocks are here and to cross this two lanes and two ways road is major headache. However, during weekend, the road is total dead. I prefer KLCC properties that is “Visible” from main roads surrounding KLCC (not hiding from the backlane from main road) and this site meets the requirement, BUT it is lack of “human – Qi” and another way of saying this is during weekend the frontage is not happening or vibrant enough. Of course, there are many kind of tenants in KLCC. My limited knowledge (expat friends or colleagues) tell me that those who choose KLCC living is normally more adventure and happening who like to have cosmopolitan feel. Unfortunately when it comes eekend, this stretch is like abandoned city.

Technically, the Manhattan only has KL Tower view as KLCC is blocked by St. Mary Residence. In addition, there is news that Menara MPL is up for sales and another side of the Manhattan currently uses as car park will be developed in later stage for sure i.e. potentially no side view in future since those lands are small and developers will max. the land with space for the unit. Do expect the building will be very near to each other in future. On the flip side, It may work well for the Manhattan future market value if those lands develop as residential properties with higher Psf.

Current psf of the Manhattan is not cheap in the first glance as almost all units are priced at 1700+psf above. One can see the pricing are almost the same in term of psf from low to highest floor (which only varies in size). This Singapore based developer knows that it is not easy to sell such boutique development with the price of Rm1700psf especially as a first timer in Malaysia, it offers 8% discount on SPA price and 5% rebate on down payment. So net psf is around RM1500++psf which is now sound reasonable compares to recent KLCC bound property launches. As I mentioned earlier psf wise is not much different, smallest units are the first to go. So far, only about 30% units are sold and mostly the small units that under GRR scheme. The 5% GRR (10th to 19th floor – Fully Furnished) only valid for two years and developer will not continue to take care of the units after that. Good thing is every unit (even small unit) comes with carpark which is not given by many KLCC developments.

The one bedroom 588sf type (only 7 units, all corner units facing backlankt Ceylon) is the best value units and as usual sold out. The price tag is around RM1.08m before discount.

Next is 603sf (intermediate unit facing Bkt Ceylon) , the pricing is cheaper than 588sf in absolute term (around RM1.04m) because this type is non-corner with a dark living hall (without window/balcony). Well, it is not my cup of tea to have closed up living hall. See below. Due to the affordability. this type is also almost sold out when I last visited the sales office.

The show unit at the site is the two bedrooms Type C1C (946sf) that comes with Lanai. The price is around RM1.6m. The master bedroom is quite narrow and small with the odd design of lanai stucked at the end corner of the room. In contrast, I feel that the kitchen is too luxury in term of size for this type of small apartment. The architect should have done better to utilise the space for buyer.

The other show unit is the one bedroom type A (729sf – 34 units) west facing Menara MPL. To compensate the facing, it has KL Tower view. The unit provides reasonable size powder room that can link to master bathroom. Squarish layout means it is always a better layout for me. This type comes with RM1.02m price tag before discount.

Another interesting layout is the 1 bedroom double volume penthouse (958sf or 998sf) which only priced at 1700+sf. This double volume unit allows you to build another small rooms to expend the unit’s build up area. The 1.7+m price tag is similar or not too far away from low floor 9xxsf type (also around RM1.7m), of course the penthouse is not in the GRR’s list but for me is a value buy compare to other mid size units.

Since there is no official website, i attached herewith the different type of layout for you all to refer. All priced around 1700+psf regardless which floor of this building.

Penthouse – Other types

Other Type B

Other Type C

The façade of the Manhattan is acceptable as a KLCC bound property but it is a bit disappointed as one would expect it to be closer to Singapore condominium standard given the developer is pretty established in Singapore. The side emergency staircase is exposed substantially to external view (What?) and couldn’t imagine when it is heavy downpour in KL.

The facilities are very common which come with Sky deck and Sky pool at 8th and 9th floor respectively. I wouldn’t call it “sky” pool or “sky” deck because it is not up at the sky, it is at 8th and 9th floor!

Maintenance fee is currently set at RM0.40psf, with approximated average size of 800sf for 139units, the monthly collection is only about RM45k. Anyone involves in JMB or MC for strata title property before would know that it is certainly not enough. The fee of security guards itself will easily cover half of the total collection. Therefore, buyer should prepare to fork out more or price in more in the rental to pay additional maintenance fee after two years.

The show unit furnishing quality is very disappointed. It is certainly not the quality for RM1700+psf apartment. The chunky wardrobe and kitchen cabinet is not better than 400psf type of apartment show unit and the owners of GRR unit should not expect more on the quality of the furnishing when it is ready in 3 years time (if the developer only deliver what is showing in the show unit).

There are many condominiums at the back of Jalan Raja Chulan which are asking half the price of this development. To be fair, those are supposed to be one or two grades lower than this development but from the site visit and the material given, I don’t see the Manhattan is two grades higher based on what I have seen at the site and show units. We are no longer at the KLCC BBB era anymore and it needs more efforts to sell KLCC bound properties.

I am not surprise those sold units are mostly under GRR scheme I,e, low floor. If one has the age to leverage for more than 20 years loan, the GRR 5% may sufficiently covers the installment of LTV70 loan with positive cashflow. For those LTV90 loan, it may just enough to cover the installment without including the maintenance fees. The sales of 30% are rather slow given this location. However, the developer is very confident to sell the remaining units as they intend to bring this development to sell in Singapore . Yes, with indication of higher selling price than the SA is showing you now.

Developer Profile and Specification of this project